


Ghazal for Barricade Day

by primeideal



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Barricade Day, Gen, Ghazal, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:24:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Rise above the fearful land in the city..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghazal for Barricade Day

**Author's Note:**

> The ghazal is a Persian and Urdu poetry form. According to John Hollander, the speaker can be “a desperate lover…rapt visionary….iconoclastic drunkard.” Agha Shahid Ali notes a more contemporary usage, especially in the work of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, as the “committed revolutionary intoxicated with the struggle for freedom.” This was written for Barricade Day 2013 (so in June).

Rise above the fearful land in the city  
Come take your place and my hand in the city.

Wine is cheap, blood rich, bread stale, spirits flagging,  
Your lips’ bullets contraband in the city.

We wear hats and scars, sides falling to stitches.  
Let searing joy be your brand in the city.

Death is commonplace, spread in the air and dirt.  
Wait in silence, too much planned in the city.

What kind of fool writes letters in this darkness?  
Don’t list out all you demand in the city.

Through many narrow streets, we are spread too thin.  
Some homes must be undermanned in the city.

You settle into the chill of the night air  
And every last sip is bland in the city.

How dare we seek the stars, the scrolls, the sublime?  
There’s no time to be too grand in the city.

Other walls will rise, other towers will fall.  
Might you just as well sift sand in the city?

There are brothers and sisters alongside us  
Through time, let your view expand in the city.

A melody repeated always echoes  
Anthems from a larger band in the city.

This is no time for liars. Spell out your faith,  
And we friends will make our stand in the city.


End file.
